Classic Workbench; Problems with aca1233 accelerator.

[wrath of khan]

I have sysinfo software: It says

 :kickstart V39.106
 :Workbench V 39.48; but worbench itself says its ver. 40.42
I have 1,791,520 graphics mem free and 32,376 other mem.

I have an aca1233 40 mhz accellerator installed.
Under category "Internal hardware modes" it says mmu 68030 (not in use)

The aca1233 has a maprom feature. When this is activated do I then have to manually map memory for specific tasks e.g whdload etc?

So when I try to load aga games that require 4 meg of fast ram, its says can't allocate shadowmem.
Oddly just the one time super stardust aga 4 meg ram worked for me but never again.

I checked some old threads here but the best info i found said that the amiga is looking for disks or adfs when it mentions shadowmem?
Also with some games a500 ones too, it says not enough memory or expmem?

This card has 128 meg of memory so what's the problem?

edit: In some games the title screens/intro screens are flashing/flickering in and out of view, before then stabilising. This isn't a timing fix issue with my a1200 is it? I heard that graphical corruptions occur if such a thing is required for the aca1233 to work properly.

Thanks

[wrath of khan]

Anyone?

[wrath of khan]

Looks like you running Kickstart 3.0. You must use the acatune command to enable the 128 meg of memory. Or upgrade to 3.1.

Hi. Yes I have used the acatune disk and it said that the ram was allocated. I will try it again. I have read the wiki on the aca, not very helpful. Mostly this aca version seems automated, just use the supplied disk.

Its a standard commodore a1200 which I got on e-bay. Kickstart 3.0. Why would I need to upgrade to 3.1? Would flickering in and out of intro screens, in whdload games, be indicative of timing fix problems?

System info recognises the card and before inserting the aca card agony and other games would not run at all. Now they do, so I reckon the card is working mostly.

I only used amigas for games back in the day and d-paint, so I am new to the technical side; still it seems easy enough to negotiate workbench, funnily enough its not entirely dissimilar to windows. I want to learn how to get the most out of my a1200.

[wrath of khan]

Because it costs less than $20 and is as easy as popping in a couple chips. If there's even a chance that it could help with your issues, why not do it?

Not directed at you personally, but it drives me absolutely nuts how cheap many Amiga users are. Sure, there's software work-arounds like maprom-ing in a later version, but why in the world would you not want "the latest and greatest" Kickstart for your system? Unless you're building a purely retro, 1.3 machine or something, it just makes me facepalm so hard how many people fight tooth-and-nail to not do this simple upgrade.

Sorry, off-topic rant over! Good luck with your current issues, I'd do some searching on the forums for the proper config for your ACATune software. Config is different depending on the model of card you have and for optimal config of it. It should be the very first line in your startup-sequence and can actually make a pretty big difference if it's not configured correctly!

I'll check the forums about the aca card, sure. I would not have the expertise to install the 3.1 kickstarts myself. I gather it needs soldering or something. But I'm not against it at all.

If all else fails I may pay amigakit a visit as they have a customer counter I'm told. I have an old a500 in need of some loving too and Cardiff is not far away.

[wrath of khan]

No soldering required, just pop in a couple chips.  You do need to make sure of the correct orientation and put them in the right sockets, of course.  I wish I was close enough to visit AmigaKit, post pics (if they let you) if you go.  Bet it'll be a fun trip, I'm jealous!  

I see. Yes it would cost as little to go by ferry as it would for postage and it would be a nice trip. My a500 will have to go there sooner or later.

[wrath of khan]

Hello Wrath Of Khan. Please see my post at the bottom of the thread I've linked to here for the correct ACATune line for the ACA1233 or ACA1232 cards:

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=68501

And whatever you do, DO NOT buy 3.1 roms. They are a waste of money in your case as you have an ACA card with a maprom feature. You can 'soft kick' 3.1 from your hard drive with the ACATune command.

Thanks, I will try this. Oddly what seems to be happening is, I activated the maprom feature and I get loads of other mem. But after resetting the amiga, ctrl, A+A, I lose the other mem. Is there a way to save the maprom command rather than having to activate this every time i boot up?

Well I will try your suggestion. Really, that's great. I guess some games require 3.1? Oh and should I enter the command in my acatune software. Its on a floppy. Or from a cli?

[wrath of khan]

You need to add the ACATune command at the beginning of your startup-sequence, so that you don't have to keep typing it every time . The startup-sequence is what boots your Amiga into Workbench. It's literally just a sequence of commands stored in a text file.

Boot up your computer, go to a shell and type in "ed s:startup-sequence".
Or, just select the "Execute Command" from the Workbench menu and type "ed s:startup-sequence".

Your startup-sequence will be listed and you can add the ACATune line in here. Put it at the top, before SetPatch or any other command is run (in most cases). Then go to the menu and select 'Save'.

Ive tried the command a few times but no luck. Perhaps I am entering in the wrong place/order?
Here's a pic attached of the startup sequence and you can see where ive entered the line.
Upon reset of the miggy the other mem diminishes greatly.

[wrath of khan]

Open Multiview (in SYS:Utilities) and open the file 'RAM:acaoutput.txt'
Or open a Shell again and type "type ram:acaoutput.txt" instead.

This perhaps will give us some clues as to why it isn't working correctly.

I didn't know you were using ClassicWB, and I don't know what the Maxmem-sequence is, which for all I know could be causing the issue. You can try moving the ACATune line directly above the SetPatch line though.

TBH, there's nothing wrong and the line should stay at the top. Let us know what acaoutput.txt reads...

The shell reads: Error: Aca card type unsupported.
It then tells me to get the latest version of acatune from icomp.de. Guess the floppy disk version supplied is not the latest.
Well, I need to buy a cd drive to set up easynet pcmcia wireless, to go online and then download the software...bummer.
I foresee some difficulty setting up easynet too...

I'll get the cd drive soon.

[wrath of khan]

ACATune should be version 17.

Yeah the floppy disk says ver 1.7.
I'm using a cf card preset with lots of software, whdload etc. Its installed internally. I'm not sure about most of whats on there but there is d-paint, hippo player etc. Looks like there's software for adding a large hardrive too etc.

Is classic workbench lite a good thing or bad? I'm rather clueless but i guess its meant to be fast with slow amigas?

[wrath of khan]

Open a Shell, and type the command "acatune -status"

Let us know what it says.

There's nothing wrong with ClassicWB, it's just a pre-configured Workbench environment. The problem you have though is one of the chicken and the egg... the file transfers that presently are impossible for you. This is why I always keep a pc with a floppy drive around.

Again the shell reads: Error: Aca card type unsupported.
It then tells me to get the latest version of acatune from icomp.de

[wrath of khan]

Version 17 is available to download and my disk has ver.1.7? Is that just another way of typing 17 or have there been that many revisions already?

[wrath of khan]

Open a shell and type "version c:acatune full"

And let us know what that says.

Also, please do make sure that you have turned your Amiga off/on at the power brick. A 'cold boot' is a boot from a previously powered off state, and a 'warm boot' is a boot from a previously powered on state (like after a reset with A-A-CTRL). I'm interested to know whether it's working from a cold boot, so please make sure you've cold booted it first. So, see what happens from a cold boot please.

The shell said: Could not find version information for C:acatune. I powered on from the brick to begin.

[wrath of khan]

1.7 = 17 IIRC, so no problem there.

http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACAtune

If there's still no joy, I suggest powering the Amiga off at the brick, power on again whilst holding down both mouse buttons and this will take you to the Amiga Early Startup Control.

From here select the button "Boot with no Startup-Sequence".

When the AmigaDOS prompt appears, type in "c:acatune -status"

And let us know what that says. If it recognises the card then there's something in the ClassicWB startup-sequence which is upsetting it.

Yup I did this and it said: error Aca card type unsupported.

[wrath of khan]

Thanks for your help mike and Paul. Its 2am here now so I'm gonna crash.
To be continued tomorrow...

[wrath of khan]

I'm just turning the clock back here a bit. Here you stated that acatune was working as it gave you the extra ram. Can you repeat this behaviour? This proved that acatune detected your card.

Also, don't forget to try the cold boot but without Startup-Sequence (see my last posts) and type 'c:acatune -status' and let us know what it says.

EDIT: Ok seems you already did that last part... In my mind, it's either the wrong (old) version of acatune, or the card perhaps isn't seated correctly, which may explain why it recognised the card earlier.

Hmm I will check if the card is not seated properly. At first it was pushed in too far and there was distortion on-screen. The manual recommends loosening the card a bit. I did this and it worked. Perhaps its a tad too loose now? I'll investigate.

I'm getting visible scan lines on my lcd from the rgb scart cable I got from amigakit too. It's the lcd telly no doubt. Someone over at eab has a thread about the same thing. Not to worry as  I will get an indivision aga soon enough.
Oh and yes every time I use the acatune disk and type acatune maprom * I get loads of other mem allocated and I can run most games just fine.